John Hanna, Associated Press

Former Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody is accused of persuading a potential witness for an investigation into his conduct of withholding information from authorities.

Kansas-based U.S. District Judge John Broome, a Trump appointee, blocked the rule in that state as well as in Alaska, Utah and Wyoming.

The order applies in Alaska, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming because they sued, plus a patchwork of places elsewhere across the nation.